EU Views Vienna Talks on Syria as “Historic”
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said at the end of talks in Vienna, Austria, on the current crisis in Syria that the meeting was historic and very substantial.
“We tackled major issues that were on the table… but we found common grounds to continue talks,” Mogherini told reporters on Friday.
She emphasized that the meeting was not an easy one “but for sure a historic one as we had, for the first time, all the actors around the table, and I would say a very constructive atmosphere.”
She said she believed that participants at the international meeting have “some common grounds” on which they can build in the future, Press TV reported.
“So there's hope for a political process to start under the UN auspices and with all of us coming together again,” Mogherini pointed out.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that the participants had agreed to hold another meeting in two weeks' time to find a political solution to the four-and-a-half year crisis in Syria.
Speaking to reporters, Fabius said the participants discussed all issues, “even the most difficult" ones.
"There are points of disagreement, but we advanced enough for us to meet again, in the same configuration, in two weeks," the French minister added.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, expressed hope that further compromises would end the war in Syria.
Speaking in a press conference after the Vienna meeting, Lavrov said the multilateral talks on the Syrian crisis had failed to reach a consensus on the fate of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. He emphasized that only "the Syrian people should decide Assad's fate."
Lavrov stressed that terrorists must not be given a chance to seize power in the country.
The Russian foreign minister said any truce in Syria is not going to be applicable to Daesh Takfiris and other terrorists, adding that a comprehensive list of terror groups operating in Syria will be defined during a separate meeting.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that foreign ministers attending the Vienna meeting failed to reach an agreement on the future of Syria and the fate of President Assad.
"There was still no breakthrough, but that also wasn't expected today," he told reporters.
He added that the Syria talks would resume within two weeks, probably in Vienna, and noted that the meeting would focus on establishing a transitional government, new elections and implementing national or regional ceasefires to solve the Syrian conflict.
British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond assessed the international talks on Syria as "very long, productive and worthwhile."
Hammond added that “very significant differences” remain most obviously around the future of the Syrian president.
“This is the first time we have had all the protagonists around a table together and that's quite a remarkable achievement in itself,” Hammond said.
He noted that officials of the participating countries would continue to work together in a bid to narrow the differences.
“So this is a process now that has some momentum that will go forward and that, in itself, is extremely positive. It has been a very worthwhile day," Hammond pointed out.